Catalogue Number
NMLH.2022.254
Object Name
Lamp
Title
The wolf safety lamp
People
Arthur Scargill, Ewan McColl, National Union of Mineworkers (NUM)
Events
Miners' Strike 1984-85
Date
1985
Description
This is a gold lamp. It is a hand held lamp, with a hook at the top, and engravings on the front. The front of the lamp says "The wolf safety lamp, Trade Mark, Sheffield, England." An inscription on the back reads "To Ewan MacColl, for outstanding service to the working class, from National Union of Mineworkers, 21st January 1985."
This miner's lamp was presented to Ewan MacColl on his 70th birthday by Arthur Scargill, president of the National Union of Mineworkers (NUM). MacColl was very active during the miners' strike of 1984â85 in distributing free cassettes of songs supportive of the NUM, entitled 'Daddy, what did you do in the strike?'. Arthur Scargill is a British Trade Unionist who was president of the National Union of Mineworkers from 1982-2002. He is best known for leading the 1984-1985 miners' strike.
Ewan MacColl (birth name James Henry Miller) was a folk singer, writer, labour activist and actor. he is known as one of the instigators of the 1960s folk revival as well as for writing such songs as "The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face." MacColl collected hundreds of traditional folk songs. He also wrote many left-wing political songs, remaining a communist throughout his life and engaging in left-wing political activism. He joined the Young Communist League and a socialist amateur theatre troupe, the Clarion Players. He began his career as a writer. He was an activist in the unemployed workers' campaigns and the mass trespasses of the early 1930s. One of his best-known songs, "The Manchester Rambler", was written just before the pivotal mass trespass of Kinder Scout. He was responsible for publicity in the planning of the trespass.
